Peter Carey: The Chemistry of Tears (Kensington and Chelsea Review)

The new Kensington & Chelsea Review is out, featuring (on p.23) my review of Peter Carey's new novel, The Chemistry of Tears. You can read the whole magazine here (I've put a transcript of the review below it):

(if that doesn't work go to www.kensingtonandchelseareview.com)

A careful layering of reality and unreality runs through Peter Carey’s new novel. It mostly takes place in a fictional museum, but detailed localism and the intrusion of a utilitarian, centre-right Coalition government seem all-too familiar. Here a fictional object is being restored: a clockwork automaton of a duck – or swan, depending on which narrator you believe at which point in the book –based on Vaucanson’s famous ‘digesting duck’ that appeared to eat and defecate. The overall effect is reminiscent of Angela Carter’: a world so close and vivid as to seem realistic, but where something unreal always threatens to break the surface.

music makes the people come together

Reviews are pouring in for Touched...Like a Virgin, which runs for another couple of weeks at the Soho Theatre. Here's what they're saying about the music:

'a collection of singing postcards - the script jumps between 1984 and 2010, and each vignette in the life of monologist Lesley is paired with a Madonna track. [...] David Wickenden - better known as one quarter of 4 Poofs and a Piano - croons Like a Prayer and Hung Up in the basement venue of Soho Theatre like a born cabaret performer. With glittering silver shoes he purrs into the mic, doling out a wink here, a smile there. Ben Osborn’s stripped-down arrangements of the songs we know and love also deserve a mention.'

The Stage

'The thread which holds the story together is the music of Madonna, provided brilliantly by Ben Osborn on piano and guitar and Dave Wickenden on vocals who, with a twinkle in his eye and sparkles on his shoes, invests Madonna’s greatest hits with a warmth and touch of camp which is both charming and funny.'

The Public Reviews (****)

'The story is underscored by songs from Madonna's back catalogue as sung by David Wickenden (4 Poofs and a Piano), ably accompanied on piano and guitar by Ben Osborn.'

What's On Stage (****)

'A black piano has overtaken the small stage space as David Wickenden (who you may know from 4 Poofs and a Piano, a singing quartet that appeared regularly on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross) sings portions of the Immaculate Collection, which accurately coincide with Lesley’s story. His rendition of “Justify My Love” just about threw me over the edge with laughter. Musician Ben Osborn seamlessly switches from piano to guitar to vocal back up, completing the three-person ensemble.'

OneStopArts.com

The Telegraph also gave us four stars, as did the Mirror.

In my dressing room last night

Seriously:

Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, Actress/Designer Sadie Frost, Supermodel Kate Moss.

Obviously I'm not in the picture. Only a matter of time though, right?

(from The Daily Mail)

Touched... Like a Virgin: composing after Madonna

From next Tuesday night onward I'll be performing alongside actress Sadie Frost - a bit of a hero of mine because of this video - and singer Dave Wickenden - of the legendary Four Poofs & Piano, formerly Jonathan Ross's house-band and Edinburgh Fringe stalwarts - at the Soho Theatre in London. The production is a play called Touched... Like a Virgin, by playwright Zoe Lewis, produced by Sally Humphreys Productions.

This is exciting not only for the obvious reasons but also on a personal level: my mother, playwright Marta Emmitt, was Writer-in-Residence at Soho in 2000; her play Cadillac Ranch was performed there. This a place that excited me when I was twelve years old, and now I'm performing there, which for me is the most amazing thing about this.

It's also extremely challenging, not least because the play is about an obsessive Madonna fan and - while it is emphatically not a Madonna musical - it calls for a selection of Madonna's songs to be used as musical interludes, as well as original music to underscore the scenes.

Writing after Madonna is very interesting: if you want to read a really great piece of musicological analysis, try a wikipedia page on a Madonna song (e.g.): you can see how the songs display different styles at different points, how they move between textures and vocal registers, etc. I've been trying to arrange the songs in ways that reflect the various mental states of the protagonist. One challenge is choosing which aspects of the piece I can bring out with the minimal set-up I've got (a loop pedal borrowed from sound artist Sholto Dobie, a glockenspiel borrowed from Sleeping Passengers bassist Will Kerr, an upright piano and an acoustic guitar). While I wouldn't normally do this, I'm putting up a demo I've done - with help from fellow Sleeping Passenger Nina Scott - of Material Girl; I'd be interested to see what people think of it.